Kobe: Don’t vote me to All-Star Game

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, watches from the bench along with center Pau Gasol, of Spain, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Even if Kobe Bryant played in only six games this season, that hasn’t stopped the legions of Laker fans all over the world clamoring to vote for him in this year’s All-Star game.

Bryant leads all backcourt players in both conferences with 723,031 votes. But considering he remains sidelined for another three weeks with a fractured left knee, Bryant suggested fans should vote for someone else for this year’s game that takes place Feb. 16 in New Orleans.

“I probably wouldn’t be able to come back soon enough to be able to make my stamp or make my mark on the game,” Bryant said before the Lakers hosted the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at Staples Center. “My advice is to focus on the younger players like the Damian Lillards of the world. They’re most deserving to be out here that weekend.”

Lillard ranks third overall in NBA point guards in scoring (21.3 points), but ranks eighth overall among Western Conference guards with votes (105,880). Yet, Bryant sounded sensitive about missing what would be his 16th All-Star appearance.

“If fans vote you in, you want to go out there and show your appreciation and respect to them,” Bryant said. “It’s always a delicate balance. From where I come from, I really enjoy watching the young guys doing it and performing. Even though there is so much respect for me to play for the fans, I’d much rather see the young guys go out there and play the game. They’ve obviously put the work to be there.”

Lately, Bryant’s work has entailed stationary bike drills, set shooting and monitoring his diet. Bryant will also travel with the Lakers on their two-game trip this week to Dallas (Tuesday) and Houston (Wednesday).

Been there done that

Brian Shaw saw it all during his days playing for and coaching the Lakers.

So what has Shaw experienced in his season as the Denver Nuggets’ head coach? Nothing, other than overseeing a recent eight-game losing streak and veteran guard Andre Miller verbally confronting him after his absence in a recent game snapped his league-leading consecutive games played streak (239).

“That was nothing. In the heat of the moment, players and coaches get upset and say things,” said Shaw, who won three of his NBA titles from 2000-2002 and served as an assistant coach when he won two more championships in 2009 and 2010. “Compared to what I dealt with and have gone through in L.A., I felt like it was blown out of proportion. If there wasn’t drama here, there wouldn’t be anything. It feels like it was a piece of cake.”

Credit that outlook for the Zen-like teachings he learned from Jackson.

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“The one thing I took from Phil, and I was that anyway, was being patient,” Shaw said. “And not allowing yourself to get too high or too low.”

Social media guru

There’s plenty of things Kendall Marshall has digested before morphing from a Development League castoff to the Lakers’ starting point guard.

Beyond mastering Mike D’Antoni’s playbook and adapting to the NBA, Marshall has also discovered that Bryant remains hard to impress.

A day after posting 20 points and 15 assists in the Lakers’ win Friday over Utah in his first start donning purple and gold, Marshall tweeted at Bryant with a hashtag, “follow back?”

No luck.

“I thought maybe if I tweeted him, he’d respond,” Marshall said. “I figured it was something that would be kind of funny. I like to show my personality to fans.”

But this isn’t the case of Bryant taking the same stance to Marshall as he did to Dwight Howard, who was instantly unfollowed the moment he left the Lakers this offseason for the Houston Rockets.

“It’s hard for me to check on the mentions,” Bryant said. “I didn’t know that happened. Now that I know, I’ll follow him.”

Injury update

Lakers forward Xavier Henry said he will have his the bone bruise in his right knee reevaluated on Thursday.